The 10 Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Discoween, Hogleg, Bleachers, Lemonheads, etc.

Halloween falls on a Friday this year, and I have the perfect costume: I'm going as Sia, so look for me wearing a platinum-blonde wig and standing in a corner with my back to everyone at the Continental Club, where Disco Expressions and the Allen Oldies Band are performing. They'll time-trip us back to the 1950s, '60s and '70s with covers of both the hits and long-forgotten songs from those decades.

Both bands feature some excellent Houston musicians, so I probably won't be standing in the corner for long -- I'll be on the dance floor shaking it with Elsa and Anna from Frozen and all those Orange Is the New Black prisoners celebrating girls' night out. JESSE SENDEJAS JR.

There are really only two ways to celebrate Halloween: spending way too much money on a costume you'll never wear again, to waste an evening at a party or club mingling with people you probably don't even like; or with an evening of local punk rock so good it's scary, and so cheap it's irresistible.

Rudz will be open all night, totally free, for a gobsmacking four-way free-for-all opened by seldom-seen road dogs Something Fierce in a rare local appearance; followed in short order by OG punks the Guillotines, model citizens Donkey Punch and ex-Born Again Virgins leader James Red's new group of wild men, Hogleg. CHRIS GRAY

Midnight River ChoirFirehouse Saloon, October 31

As origin stories go, Midnight River Choir have a pretty good one. According to their Facebook page, four strangers floated a river near their New Braunfels hometown and ended up a band. (And hey, why not?) Two albums later, the Choir is winning over crowds on the dancehall circuit with a sound that, as heard on this year's Fresh Air, alternates jam-band funk with campfire-friendly Texas country and the kind of groove-conscious pop-rock that drives all the college girls crazy. CHRIS GRAY

Photo by Colin Lane/Sacks & Co. PR

Julian Casablancas & the VoidzHouse of Blues, October 31

The Strokes seem content to collect big-festival paychecks and little else these days, leaving Julian Casablancas et al. seeking their musical thrills elsewhere. And while there's still plenty of his parent band's sleek garage-rock in Casablancas' latest offshoot, the Voidz, he's bruised it up on new album Tyranny with liberal amounts of OG NYC punk, No Wave noise, electroclash synths, and a ten-minute art piece called "Human Sadness." Commentary on the Strokes' current state of affairs or no (it probably is), Tyranny will still give leather-jacketed hipsters plenty to smirk about. Casablancas will also be signing autographs and hanging out in the Record Ranch within Cactus Music between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. Friday. CHRIS GRAY

More shows on the next page.

Photo courtesy of RCA Records

BleachersFitzgerald's, November 1

When your platinum-selling, Grammy-winning band is faced with some much-deserved down time, where else would you want to go but...the '80s? That's how Jack Antonoff, guitarist for millennial NYC power-pop sensations fun., reinvented himself as Bleachers once wrapping the tour behind fun.'s 2012 blockbuster Some Nights.

Basically Antonoff watched a bunch of John Hughes movies and left no synth-pop stone unturned - New Order, Yaz, Soft Cell, Ultravox - in devising his recipe for the unapologetically retro ear candy that is Bleachers' debut Strange Desires, one of the unlikeliest indie breakouts of 2014. It's a rush. With Wild Cub. CHRIS GRAY

WampireFitzgerald's, November 1

Wampire has the stupidest, funniest name for an indie-rock band that I've heard in years. Luckily their music is awesome, a mixture of '80s goth-pop and punk rock that is simultaneously dance-ready and depressing. If you're an old Cure head or just a young depressive you'll love these guys, and you'll love spending Dia de los Muertos staring at your feet and shuffling to their jams at Fitz. With Tops. COREY DEITERMAN

Psychedelic Furs, the LemonheadsHouse of Blues, November 2

As your Halloween weekend winds down this is a good one for those with any gas left in the tank. The Psychedelic Furs are an '80s throwback classic, which I hear the kids love these days; if you aren't acquainted, go peep the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. Bonus points for openers the Lemonheads repping for '90s college-rock, which is also in vogue right now. You might have to battle teenage hipsters for a ticket to this show, but it's worth it. COREY DEITERMAN

THREE MORE SHOWS WORTH CONSIDERING

Grady Gaines: 2014 Houston Music Hall of Famer breaks out the sax to goose all those dancing skeletons. (The Big Easy, October 31)

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